โAโ is for Africa but is this Africa? Sort of, though not quite.
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โBโ is for blue and bright and balmy, just a typically perfect-weather day in the Radamas.
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โCโ is for chameleons of all sizes, shapes and, err … colours.
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โDโ is for dawn and the delight of dreaming of all the dayโs possibilities.
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โEโ is for Epinephelus. Madagascarโs are big in number of species, size and appetite. Itโs a measure of the pristine state of many of the deeper reefs, but itโs also a fragile resource that needs to be managed with extreme caution. This is Epinephelus coioides or orange-spotted grouper.
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โFโ is for fishy formula. A session of vertical jigging starts with cruising drop-offs glued to the โTVโ and doing a little math. Fish at 59 meters: thus 5900/30 = 197 ft, therefore one requires 197 g/28 = 7 oz of brightly coloured, fluttering metal to reach the zone. Thereโs a tip in there: the minimum vertical jig weight required in grams equals the depth in feet.
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โGโ is for good, golly gumdrops, what a fine dinner!
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โHโ is for Hellโs Gate, a pile of rocks bordering a channel that is GT Heaven. Tempted by baitfish riding the tide between inshore shallows and the offshore deep, all manner of other species stack up here too.
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โIโ is for inebriated. The morning after, Charlie is an alcoholic diabetic lemur. Maybe we should all drink less?
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โJโ is for journey on the long road from home. Will there be fish when we get there?
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โKโ is for knoll and a kindly sea, Sugarloaf Rock in water calmer than a teacup. High mountains inland shield this region of northwestern Madagascar from trade winds and most stormy weather.
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โLโ is for lemur, a breakaway faction of the primate clan (though the African monkeys probably couldnโt give a continental).
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โMโ is for magic mirror and to marvel at the coloured creatures from below the glass.
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โNโ is for noisy and how you want to work your plug to call in a hit.
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โOโ is for observe, soak it all in. Time ticks here at the rhythm of the wind and tide.
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โPโ is for pelagic punishment, pull or be pulled!
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โQโ is for quantity and quality, bait-balling GTs could be found on demand.
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โRโ is for rosy job fish. Are they named for the job (hard work) it is to catch them by having to crank a jig at warp speed?
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โSโ is for sunset and sashimi in that order.
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โTโ is for teethโSpanish mackerel, the oceanic bullet with a bite.
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โUโ is for uber: uber-interesting, uber-strong, actually amberjack are uber everything.
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โVโ is for valuableโMadagascar currency.
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โWโ is for will this be the one, will this cast be the Big Hit?
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โXโ marks the spot, Kalakadjoro Island, a fishermanโs Xanadu (and you can bring your wife and let her loose with all your credit cards!).
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โYโ is for yellowspotted trevally, they come to soft plastic like kids to jelly jujubes.
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โZ โ is for Zebu, is it beef and reef for dinner then?